Brooklyn Nets Evaluation of Mikal Bridges Could be Too High

Brooklyn is holding themselves back, and it starts with their assessment of their star player.

Mar 29, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges (1) warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Bulls at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly not 'interested' in trading star forward Mikal Bridges for the Houston Rockets' No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft, via Kurt Helin of NBC Sports. Bridges' name has seemingly been in every Nets trade rumor since the season ended, but perhaps the biggest story surrounding a deal involving him is now shut down.

If you remember earlier in the season, the Rockets called the Nets before the trade deadline with a package involving Jalen Green and multiple first-round picks for Mikal Bridges, but Brooklyn turned that offer down as well.

.@ShamsCharania on Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün:

“The #Rockets called the Nets on Mikal Bridges discussing a concept around Jalen Green and multiple 1sts, that was not accepted…

It’s a great problem for the #Rockets to have, you have 2 burgeoning stars with Şengün, with… pic.twitter.com/VPigxky8Ng

— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) March 25, 2024

Simply put, the Nets value Bridges so highly that they may not find a deal they like. The offer for Green and multiple firsts might've been the best they could've had, considering that Green is improving as a near-20-point-per-game scorer, and talks with Houston got dwindled down to the No. 3 pick.

How much better of an offer could the Nets have gotten? The Rockets were offering a future star and a plethora of picks for Bridges. Don't get me wrong, the former Villanova Wildcat is an excellent player who can work phenomenally as a third option on a contender (as we saw in Phoenix), but his numbers have been inflated for the past season and a half, given that the Nets went 32-50.

Sources say that the Nets may prefer to add pieces around Bridges, building a competitive team sooner rather than later. If they can lure a player like Donovan Mitchell or Trae Young to New York City, then of course that would warrant the team to keep the former All-Defensive First Teamer. However, the odds of either of them ending up on the Nets is less likely than them staying put or going elsewhere, so why keep a win-now talent like Bridges?

It seems as if Brooklyn will do anything but go into a rebuild, but when you have teams throwing assets for the future right your face, it would be a travesty to pass up on it for the pride of competition. Brooklyn should take what they can get for Bridges, and go into a full rebuild by developing young players and accumulating draft picks.

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